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Tag Archives: Limiting beliefs

Do you have self limiting beliefs that restrict you? Is it possible to overcome them?

In March 2011, Jan (my wife) and I went to Sydney Australia. It is a place we used to call home and we visit as frequently as we can.

We were greeted by Jan’s brother who took us back to his apartment that looks over Sydney Harbour bridge and is about 500 metres from the Opera House. He says “we are not staying”, he throws us a soft holdall and tells us to pack for three days. We then go back to the airport and get on his jet. We fly for an hour and arrive
at Surfer’s Paradise airport. As we taxi in, the blades of a helicopter start to spin. We are ferried from the plane to the helicopter and the next thing I know I am flying past the towers made famous in “I’m a celebrity get me out of here”. We fly for about five minutes and come to land on the back of my brother in law’s yacht. The crew come to the helicopter and help us to our cabins. I look at my watch and I have been in Australia for precisely three and a half hours! And I have ticked off four things from my ” bucket list” already! (the bucket list is a list if things you want to do before you die)

We freshen up, go on deck and Jeremy Clarkson walks on board. He is followed by James May and I then had a surreal experience of talking to James May for twenty minutes in a cabin on my own. It transpires he is a great guy, just like you imagine him to be (keeps making jokes about Jeremy Clarkson), has two firsts and is a concert pianist to boot!

Five and half hours have passed by and Jan and I need to go to bed as we are both jet lagged. We bid our farewells and crash out. I woke up at 3:30 am went on deck and continued one of my LinkedIn discussions. I started by saying “you’ll never guess what I have just done in the last 24 hours” and then preceded to tell them I was looking at the Versace Hotel (made famous in “I’m a celebrity”) it was hot and I could hear the sea water chuckling. This is when I had my “top of the mountain” experience as I could see all the glass ceilings that either I or others had put over my head throughout my life.

The questions were no longer “why haven’t I done this with my life”, “why am I such a failure compared with my brother in law” instead it was “how can I use the little time I have left of my life to make a difference”. A “burning desire” had been born and even if I achieve no more than I have already achieved I have done far more than I had expected and every day is a bonus. I started looking around for role models and Jamie Oliver came to mind he is passionate, wants to make a difference has integrity and a good value system. Winston Churchill had a burning desire to become Prime Minister and at an age when others retire 65, he took on the might of the Nazi empire and won. What self belief! You are never too old to change your mind set.

The moral of the story is stop feeling sorry for yourself and go out and make a difference. You might not win a popularity contest. I think it is fear of what other might think that holds people back. I don’t care anymore.